Chopping machine

ABSTRACT

A chopping machine adapted to be connected to a duct through which solid material is transported by a stream of fluid and comprising a grating unit and a cooperating chopper unit provided with chopper blades. The chopper unit is rotated so that the blades pass into and out of slots in the grating with a clearance, whereby the smaller size pieces pass through the grating, the larger size pieces are chopped to a size at which they will freely pass through the grating and at the same time the blades continuously clean the slots and other parts of the machine.

United States Patent [111 3,556,421

[72] Inventor Har ld E- Gala y 1,281,829 10/1918 Plaisted 241/195X 36 Montgomery Road, Livingston, -J- 2,591,388 4/1952 Trotter 24 l/46.08X 07039 2,870,969 1/1959 Moore.... 241/19OX [21} Appl. No. 690,946 3,426,674 2/1969 Testolin... 241/191X [22] Filed Dec. 15, 1967 361,000 4/1887 Creager 241/243 [45] Patented 1971 Primary Examiner-Donald G. Kelly AttorneyF red M. Vogel [54] CHOPPING MACHINE 4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 241/86 [5 1 Int. Cl B02C 13/06, ABSTRACT; A chopping machine adapted to be connected to B026 13/13 a duct through which solid material is transported by a stream Field Of Search 241/44, of and omprising a grating unit and a cooperating 100. 141, 146, 1 1, 257G; chopper unit provided with chopper blades. The chopper unit 166, 4 4 86, 38, is rotated so that the blades pass into and out of slots in the 90 grating with a clearance, whereby the smaller size pieces pass [56] Reference C te through the grating, the larger size pieces are chopped to a size at which they will freely pass through the grating and at UNITED STATES PATENTS the same time the blades continuously clean the slots and 1,031,896 7/1912 Williams 241/195 other parts of the machine.

PATENTED mu 91911 $556,421

sum .1 m 3 FIG. 2

IN l ENTOR HAROL 0 E. GAL ANT) B MW AGE/VT PATENTEU .mu 9 MI 1 35563421 sum 3 0F 3 FIG. IO

INVENTOR HAROLD E. GALA/VT) CHOPPING MACHINE The main object of my invention is to provide a machine which will chop a mass of solid pieces in such a way that the mass will be readily flowable.

A more specific object is to chop pieces of solid material being transported by a stream of a fluid through a duct or pipe line in such a manner that the material will be readily flowable and will not obstruct the pipe line or nozzles, process equipment, pumps, etc. in the line.

Another object is clean the mechanism proper, as well as the inner surface of the machine, during each revolution of the chopper unit.

A further object is to provide chopper units and grating units which cooperate to produce an. effective and efficient chopping action.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a chopping machine which is a self-contained unit with driving motor and which can be readily installed in a pipe line or duct.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the description thereof progresses.

The chopping machine according" to my invention comprises a housing having a passageway for the material to be treated and a grating unit extending across the passageway and provided with slots. A rotatable chopper unit is located adjacent to the grating and carries a plurality of chopper blades or knives which pass into and out of the slots with a certain clearance to thereby chop the material and at the same time clean the slots during each revolution.

In one embodiment of my invention the chopper blades or knives are so shaped and dimensioned'at their ends as to provide a cleaning action on the surface'of the passageway and thus to prevent undesired build up of the material being treated.

In another embodiment a driving motor is mounted on the machine to provide a unit which can be readily installed in and removed from a pipe line.

In another embodiment the grating is so shaped, that when installed in the passageway, at least a portion thereof will extend at an obtuse angle to the axis of the passageway to thereby increase the effective area of the slots.

In another embodiment of my invention a support carrying blades of equal length is given a bulbous shape so that the surface thereof, as well as the surface defined by the ends of the blades, will conform to a surface -of revolution whose generatrix corresponds to a curve formed by the ends of a plurality of parallel ribs whose lengths are substantially equal to each other and to the lengths of the blades and which extend substantially the same distance from the surface of the tubular passageway.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect I shall now'describe the same in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a chopping machine according to my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on a slightly enlarged scale of a portion of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a grating unit according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view takenalong line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram indicating the positions of the chopper blades on the rotor;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view on an enlarged scale of the chopper blades shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a side view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top view of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a portion at a machine according to the invention.

The machine in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 comprises a housing 10, which may be of stainless steel or other suitable material, having a tubular portion 11 forming a passageway having an inlet 90 and an outlet 91 and two end flanges 12 each provided with eight clearance holes 13 and two mounting lugs 14. At its central part housing 10 is provided with radially extending tubular protuberances 15 which, as will be explained later in connection with FIG. 2, house bearings and stuffing boxes for a shaft 16. Secured to one end of shaft 16 is a pulley I7 driven by a V- belt 18 from a pulley 19 mounted on the shaft 20 of a driving motor 21. I

Motor 21 is adjustably supported from the housing 10 in a simple and effective manner. As shown in FIG. 1, motor 21 is fixedly mounted on a metal plates 22 to each of the corners of which are secured one end of four studs 23. The free ends of studs 23 extend through clearance holes in mounting lugs 14 and are each provided with two locking. nuts 24 whereby motor 21 may be locked in a position in which there will be proper tension on belt 18 and the axis of the motor will extend perpendicularly to the plane of travel of the belt. Such a mounting arrangement permits easy access to the flange bolts (not shown) used in holes 13 and also to the adjusting nuts 33 and 34 of the stuffing boxes (later to be described).

Referring now to FIG. 2, shaft 16 is rotatably mounted near each end on a ball bearing 25 housed in one of the protuberances 15. Mounted on shaft 16 is a chopper blade unit 26 comprising a tubular support 56 keyed to the shaft at 27 and carrying nine chopper blades 47 to 55, only blades 49, 52 and 54 being shown in FIG. I. Unit 26 is held in proper position axially to the shaft by means of two tubular spacers 28 each having one end pinned to support 56 and the other end engaging the side of bearing 25, which also act as thrust bearings.

A stuffing box provided in each of the protuberances 15 comprises a gland 29 slidably mounted in protuberance 28 and having two threaded holes into each of which is screwed the end of one leg of an L-shaped member 30 which leg extend with a loose fit through a slot 31 fonned in the wall of protuberance IS. The other leg extends through a clearance hole in a lug 32 formed as part of protuberance I5 and has a threaded end carrying adjusting and locking nuts 33 and 34 respectively. By tightening nuts 33 gland 29 may be moved axially spacer 28 to thereby compress packing material 35 provided in the annular space between spacer 28 and the wall of the protuberance 15, whereupon the gland is locked in position by tightening nuts 34. A metal ring 83 located at the end of the packing 35 provides a flat bearing surface therefore.

Instead of being screwed into gland nut 29, one end of members 30 may be unthreaded and fit snugly in an unthreaded hole provided in gland 29. This simplifies the construction of the stuffing boxes.

In the device according to the invention, the chopping or deagglomeration and the accompanying sizing to a maximum predetermined size of the solid material being transmitted through the device by a stream of a fluid is carried out by the cooperative action between a grating unit and a rotatable chopper unit. The grating unit comprises a plurality of ribs or bars spaced apart to form a plurality of parallel slots and the chopper unit com rises a rotatable support carrying a plurality of chopping blades. The blades are so arranged and dimensioned with respect to the slots of the grating unit that they follow a circular path into and out of the slots without contacting the grating. The number, shape and size of the slots and chopper blades, the clearance between the blades and ribs or bars depends upon a number of factors including the size, shape and nature of the solid material being treated, the nature, and velocity of the transportfluid as well as the maximum predetermined size to which the solid material is to be chopped.

Thus, the grating unit or structure serves as sizing means to permit the passage through the machine of only those particles which are below a predetermined maximum size and therefor are readily flowable and will not deleteriously effect the operation of the machine or the duct and parts thereof in connection with which the machine is used. The chopper blades are so dimensioned and shaped with respect to the slots through which they pass that they serve as means both to chop the pieces of solid material being transported to sizes which permit them to pass through the sizing means and also to continuously clean from the surfaces of the machine, particularly of the ribs, any material which might unduly restrict the flow of the fluid through the machine.

The grating unit illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 comprises eight ribs 36 to 43 inclusive jointed at their ends by two curved supporting portions 44 and 45 which, as shown in FIG. 3, are secured, for instance welded, to the inner surface of tubular portion 11. Portions 44 and 45 have wedge-shaped cross sections to permit the tips of the chopper blades (see blade 52 in FIG. 3) to sweep close to the inner surface of portion 11 to thereby prevent the accumulation at this point of any of the material being treated.

It will be noted that the upper or active chopping surfaces of the ribs 36 to 47 inclusive lie in a plane passing through the axis of rotation of shaft 16.

In some cases I prefer not to use a grating structure having ribs which are joined together, at their ends but to use individual ribs of the shape of ribs 36 to 43 each which have their ends fastened directly to the inner surface of portion 11, as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, rib 40 is generally semicircular shape with a semicircular outer edge 46 and a semicircular inner edge 60 for clearance to the tubular support 56. Rib 39 is the same shape as rib 40. Ribs 38 and 41, ribs 37 and 42 and ribs 36 and 43 are pairs of the same shape, but are shorter than are the middle ribs 39 and 40 depending upon their distance from the axis of tubular portion 11, and also the diameter of the outer edge of the ribs may be decreased.

The eight ribs 36 to 43 form between themselves and with the wall of portion 11 nine slots through each of which pass with a small clearance one of nine chopper blades 47 to 55 mounted on the support centerlines For simplification only blades 49, 52 and 54 are shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

The relative location of blades 47 to 55 on the chopper blade unit 26 is indicated in the diagram of FIG. 6 which is a development of the surface of support 56. The nine vertical broken lines indicate the centerlines of the nine slots of the grating unit whereas the eight horizontal broken lines divide the circumference of the surface of support 56 into seven equal spaces. The small rectangles indicate the locations of the blades 47 to 55 and have these reference numerals applied thereto. It will be noted that the blades are arranged in a V or chevron formation. The blades are spaced apart equally horizontally (on the drawing) so as to be centered with the slots, but there is some variation in the spacing .circumferentially in order to balance the chopper blade unit 26.

The plate-shaped chopper blade 52 shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, which is of stainless steel or other suitable material, has side edges 70 of V-shaped cross section and curve or flair outwardly at the end of the blade. The end of the blade has a surface 71, which is shaped so as to conform closely to the cylindrical surface 72 of tubular portion 1 1. Each of the upper corners of the blade is provided with a notch 73 which forms a tip 74 with each sharp side edge 70. Choppers of this shape give a very good chopping action and the notched tip 74 of the blades runs very close to the surface 72 to thereby sweep it clean of the material being chopped. (See FIG. 3).

The remaining blades 47-51 and 5355 are basically similar in shape to blade 52, but the lower portions thereof are reduced in length the top angle of surface 71 varies because of the curvature of surface 72. Blades 47, 48, 49 and 50 are the same as blades 55, 54, 53, and 52 respectively, and are rotated through 180 around their vertical axis when mounted on support 56.

The grating structure shown in FIGS. 4 and comprises eight ribs 75 to 81 having opposite ends welded to curved members 82 which in turn are welded to the inner surface of housing 72. As shown in FIG. 5 members 82 have portions of wedge-shaped cross section whose inner surfaces form the bottoms of the slots and conform in shape to the path of the tips of the blades, as indicated by the broken line circle in FIG. 5. A reinforcing bar 85 extends transversely the ribs 75 to 81 and is welded to the lower extensions thereof. As shown more clearly in FIG. 5, a portion of the ribs form an obtuse angle, shown as about 30 with the axis of the tubular portion ll in which it is installed. Thus, the upper, active or chopping surfaces of the ribs 75 to 81 inclusive lie in two planes which form an obtuse angle with each other and pass through the axis of rotation of shaft I6 shown in FIG. 3. The grating structure may be of other shapes so as to be in a sloping position when installed in portion 11. The use of a grating unit which, as shown, has at least a portion inclined at an obtuse angle provides an increased area for the flow of the material which passes through the machine.

From FIGS. 3 and 5 it will be noted that the circular path of the ends of blades 52 project substantial distances beyond both sides of the grating structure to permit chopping when the fluid stream flows either in the normal direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 3 or in the opposite direction. Such reversibility is frequently required in chemical processing operations.

The machine shown in FIG. I0 is basically the same as that shown in FIGS. I and 3 and has the same parts indicated by the reference numerals used in these FIGS. However, the machine of FIG. 10 has a simplified stuffing box construction and the grating unit and cooperating chopper blade unit are such that the slots of the grating unit and the chopper blades are all of substantially the same length. i i

As shown in FIG. 10 each of the two protuberances 15 is provided with two bosses 92 having threaded holes 93 extending at an acute angle, for instance 30 to the axis of shaft 16. Extending through each of the holes 93 is a capscrew 94 whose end engages the inclined surface of a gland 95 to thereby compress packing 35. Holes 93 have countersunk end portions to provide a surface 96 adapted to be engaged by the head of screw 94 to thereby prevent'the end of the screw from engaging the surface of rotatable spacer The chopper blade unit of FIG. 10 a bulbous-shaped support 97 which is fixedly secured to shaft 16 and carries nine chopper blades 98 (only four of which are shown in the FIG.). All of the blades 98 are of substantially the same size and shape and may be simply bar-shaped with end surfaces which conform to the surface 72 of housing portion 11. However, I prefer to use blades of the type described above in connection with FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 in which case all the blades would be the same except for the shape of the end surfaces.

Secured to surface 72, for instance by welding, is a grating unit comprising ten rib portions 99 spaced apart to form nine slots 100 into each of which extends one of the blades 98. Rib portions 99 are supported at their ends by two curved supporting portions 44 and 45 and are generally of the shape of ribs 40 shown in FIG. 3. However, rib portions 99 extend out from surface such a distance that all of the slots 100 will be the same length, which is slightlyless than the length of the blades 98. The bulbous portion 97 has a surface 101 which conforms,

with a small amount of clearance to the surface formed by the ends of rib portions 99. Thus, surface 101 is a substantially surface of revolution formed by revolving about the axis of shaft 16 as a generatrix formed by a line passing through the end of rib portions 99 in the plane of the drawing.

While I have described my invention in connection with certain specific examples and embodiments I do not desire to be limited thereto as obvious modifications will readily present themselves to one skilled in this art.

I claim:

1. A self-cleaning chopping and sizing machine for placing in a readily flowable condition, pieces of solid material being transported by a stream of fluid through a duct, comprising:

a housing adapted to be connected to the duct and having an inlet opening, an outlet opening and a passageway interconnecting said openings;

a support rotatably mounted on said housing and extending transversely the passagewayi sizing means to prevent passage through the machine of particles above a predetermined size, said means comprising a plurality of parallel ribs forming a plurality of slots extending transversely the passageway from the housing toward said support; and l combined chopping and cleaning means including a plurality of blades each having one end secured to said support. each of said blades extending into one of said slots with small clearances at the end and sides to thereby clean all solid material from the slots during each revolution of the support.

2. A machine according to claiml in which the chopper blades have an end edge and a side edge of wedge-shaped cross section and are provided at the corner formed by said edges with a transverse notch forming sharp points to facilitate cleaning the bottom of the slots and to improve the chopping action. 

1. A self-cleaning chopping and sizing machine for placing in a readily flowable condition, pieces of solid material being transported by a stream of fluid through a duct, comprising: a housing adapted to be connected to the duct and having an inlet opening, an outlet opening and a passageway interconnecting said openings; a support rotatably mounted on said housing and extending transversely the passageway; sizing means to prevent passage through the machine of particles above a predetermined size, said means comprising a plurality of parallel ribs forming a plurality of slots extending transversely the passageway from the housing toward said support; and combined chopping and cleaning means including a plurality of blades each having one end secured to said support, each of said blades extending into one of said slots with small clearances at the end and sides to thereby clean all solid material from the slots during each revolution of the support.
 2. A machine according to claim 1 in which the chopper blades have an end edge and a side edge of wedge-shaped cross section and are provided at the corner formed by said edges with a transverse notch forming sharp points to facilitate cleaning the bottom of the slots and to improve the chopping action.
 3. A machine according to claim 1 in which the housing has a portion having a bulbous surface forming part of the passageway and the support has a portion having a bulbous surface substantially parallel to said first bulbous surface, the length of the chopper blades and the depth of the slots being substantially equal.
 4. A machine according to claim 1 in which a member secured to the housing has a surface forming the ends of the slots and conforming closely to the path of the tips of the blades. 